Child soldiers in Monrovia, Liberia in 1996. The U.N. estimates that today, more than a quarter million children are fighting in conflicts around the world. (Photo by Reuters.)

Young, armed and deadly

For the past decade, the U.N. has tried to help the millions of child caught in conflict. What has the effort accomplished?

By Barbara Borst
Published: December 23, 2009 17:08 ET

NEW YORK – It’s a shocking if familiar image, emblematic of vicious post-Cold War conflicts: boys high on drugs, slinging automatic rifles over their slender shoulders, maiming and killing for rebel movements or even for governments.

For just over a decade, the United Nations and its partners have made a concerted effort to end the use of child soldiers.

But still...

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